EIFF: The Fundamentals of Caring

Published by Chris Mackrell on Wed, 22/06/2016 - 22:51

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‘The Fundamentals Of Caring’ is the latest addition to Netflix’s movie catalogue. As the title suggests, the film centres around a newly licensed caregiver (carer) Ben played by Paul Rudd and his first assignment Trevor (Craig Roberts) who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)

The two rapidly (cue the montage) strike up a witty friendship, both characters mocking and ribbing each other while making slow life progress. Trevor is stuck in a routine and Ben is refusing to move on from following a crisis. The film jumps into action when the pair decide to escape and go on a road trip to see the oddest American tourist attractions including the biggest bovine and The World’s Deepest Pit. Along the route they meet sassy hitchhiker Dot (Selena Gomez) and mum to be Peaches (Megan Ferguson)

‘The Fundamentals Of Caring’ would be a really standard road trip ‘journey of discovery’ movie if it was not for the great performances of Roberts and Rudd who have been perfectly cast as these two characters. Paul Rudd comes across as one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet while Craig Roberts manages to add dark humour to the piece without you hating the character.

The film is not getting a cinematic release (and due to how slowly I write you’ve missed it at the film festival) however, you can stream it on Netflix from the 24th of June.